unesco's educational buildings

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Unesco's educational buildings and furniture programme :Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Introduction to the Newsletter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3In this issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Structural organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Unesco's approach to the educational buildings planning process . .5Programme actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

I. Exchange of information andthe publication of research studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Documentation centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

II. Technical cooperation with Member States . . . . . . . . . . .8III. Training of national specialist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10IV. Pilot projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Inside back cover: Publications, eventBack cover: Names and addresses of Unesco's school building units.

ED-89/WS-87


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UNESCO'S EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS

AND FURNITURE PROGRAMME

BACKGROUND

For many years now, Unesco has accumulated a vast experience in the field of research,

planning, design, construction, management, maintenance and evaluation of educational

buildings and furniture.

In 1962 the first programme for educational buildings and facilities was launched and an

educational facilities unit was created at Unesco headquarters as well as three regional

centres for school building activities in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and Latin America

and the Caribbean during the period 1962 to 1972. At the beginning, the programme

concentrated on research and development work as the cornerstone for achieving a bet-

ter learning environment and cost effectiveness.

In 1972 a decision was taken to integrate the regional school building programme intothe Unesco Regional Offices for Education. Thus, the conditions were created in the

regions and at headquarters for interdisciplinary work.

Since 1962 Unesco has carried out a significant number of studies on the design of buil-

dings and furniture which remain an important source of fundamental data.

The four programme actions of Unesco's educational building programme are:

I. Exchange of Information and the publication of Research Studies

II. Technical cooperation with Member States

III. Training of national specialists

IV. Pilot projects

Some of the significant results of these activities are featured on pages 6-14.

INTRODUCTION TO THE NEWSLETTER

To make the current and accumulated experience of this programme available to a wider

public, Unesco will publish a biannual newsletter devoted to this topic as from the

Unesco 1988-89 programme.

This newsletter shall also strengthen and support the establishment and further develop-

ment of an International Information Network on Educational Buildings and Furniture.

The objective of this network is to link-up national services, specialised institutions and

research centres working in this field to allow direct contact and exchange of informa-

tion and experiences. Following the workshop held in Budapest (Hungary) in March1988 by the International Union of Architects (U.I.A.) with Unesco's support, a first pro-

visional Worldwide Directory of these services was published and distributed by Unesco.

IN THIS ISSUE

We have decided to devote this first issue

to the presentation of the programme and

our main activities, so that the reader may

know who we are, what we do and where.

We have grouped the information by main

activity, with a recent example from each

region. Future issues will most likely bestructured diff e r e n t l y, for example by

regions and might according to demand be

on focused on a specific theme, such as

maintenance, primary schools, low-cost

roofing solutions, etc.

TO THE READER

We would very much appreciate your

suggestions on what you would like to

see in the next issues. Your views, ideas,

news... are most welcome, particularly

contributions/articles on your own work-

ing experiences and problems. We will

devote one page of future issues just forthis purpose. Please help us fill it in!


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STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION

4

The programme's form of organisation is

flexible and operates in a decentralised,

though still coordinated, manner.

Unesco's educational facilities units are:

1. Educational Facilities and Infrastructures Section (EIF) at Unesco Headquarters,

Paris.

2. Educational Facilities Development Service (EFDS) at Unesco Principal Office for

Asia and the Pacific (PROAP), Bangkok.

3. Educational Industries and Facilities Section (EIF) at Unesco Regional Office for

Education in Africa (BREDA), Dakar.

4. Educational Facilities Unit (EFU) at Unesco Regional Office for Education in the

Arab States (UNEDBAS), Amman.

5. Educational Facilities Unit (EFU) at Unesco Regional Office for Education in Latin

America and the Caribbean (OREALC), Santiago.

These units cooperate with Member States in all geographical regions of the World and

also maintain close collaboration with non-governmental organisations, such as the

U.I.A., and various research institutions.


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UNESCO'S APPROACH TO THE EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS

PLANNING PROCESS

5

he educational facilities planning pro-

ess can be divided into four phases: dia-nosis and analysis, research and develop-

ment, planning, and implementation.

hese four activities are linked and de-

pend on each other, but their sequence

should not be viewed as fixed since theyare flexible and due consideration should

always be given to the situation prevailing

in a country and the optimum timing of

actions to be taken. Seen like this, they

can help to deal with priority problemareas and thus respond in a pragmatic

manner to the level of advancement of the

planning process in each country.


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I. EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION AND THE

PUBLICATION OF RESEARCH STUDIES

6

PROGRAMME ACTIONS

The objective of this activity is the dissemina -

tion of experience acquired in the field of edu -

cational buildings, including publications,

audio-visual materials and research findings;

as well as the organisation of national, regio -

nal and international seminars, study

tours etc. The development of the Interna-

tional Information Network will mainly be

carried out through this Newsletter, the World

Directory of services working in the field of

educational buildings, and through horizontal

exchanges among national services. Each of

Unesco's Educational Facilities Units has

developed a regional directory which serves

to increase communication within the same

region . The World Directory, which will be

updated periodically, will include these regio -

nal directories in order to promote interregio -

nal exchange of experience and information.

Earthquake resistanteducational buildings

Many school buildings in Asia and thePacific are designed and constructed

without the assistance of engineers. To

provide technical information to those

who build, PROAPdeveloped an illustra-

ted handbook on how small school buil-

dings should be designed and built. A

regional training course was held in

Roorkee, U.P. India, in 1988, where 21

architects and engineers from 10 coun-

tries were trained on how to pass this

information on to architects and other

members of the building community.

Agricultural training centre, Niaming, Senegal. Ten years after.

After ten years in operation, the prototype developed by BREDA for this agricultural

training school has been evaluated to see how the building has stood up to the harsh

Sahelien conditions. The report discusses the history of the centre, its development andmodifications and also comments on the training that has taken place over the years in

the building. The centre, which was awarded an Aga Khan architectural prize in 1980,

was built using improved local construction materials and techniques and successfully

resolves the problem of providing large educational spaces in the Sahelien region.


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PROGRAMME ACTIONS

U.I.A. Working Group on Educational and Cultural Spaces. 8th inter-ational seminar on "International Information Network on Educa-onal Buildings and Furniture"

he Working Group on Educational and Cultural Spaces of the International Union of

rchitects (U.I.A.) organizes every two years, with the support of Unesco, an internatio-

al seminar to discuss basic concepts in the planning, design and use of educational buil-

ngs. In 1985, the 7th seminar was held in Svres, Paris, to discuss "the wider use of edu-

ational spaces". In February 1988 (postponed from 1987), the 8th International seminar

as held in Budapest on the topic "International Information Network on Educational

uildings and Furniture" . The proceedings of these seminars are published with the assis-

nce of Unesco and are distributed world-wide to U.I.A. W.G. members, N.G.O's, and

terested individuals or government services working in this field.

Documentation Centres

The Educational Facilities Units have

their own Documentation Centres

containing an extensive collection of

technical books, publications, reports

and research documents covering all

aspects of the planning, design and

implementation of educational buildings

and furniture. A Thesaurus was develo-

ped by all the Units, containing more

than 2000 key words related to educa-

tion, educational facilities, construction

and physical planning. The documents

are catalogued in a computerized data

base entitled EDFAC facilitating cross

reference, retrieval of information and

preparation of bibliographies.

Requests for information and documen-

tation should be directed to the

Educational Facilities Unit in your

region. Their addresses are shown on the

back cover.


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II. TECHNICAL COOPERATION

WITH MEMBER STATES

8

PROGRAMME ACTIONS

Assistance is provided to Member States, at

their request, with a view to establishing or

strengthening national departments responsible

for the design, planning and management of

educational buildings and furniture, includ-

ing buildings able to withstand earthquakes

and other natural disasters. Unesco also exe -

cutes or assists in the identification, prepara -

tion and implementation of a great number of

ex t r a-b u d g et a ry projects (projects financed

by banks, other UN. agencies, donor coun-

tries, etc.) in the field of school construction.

During 1986/87 Unesco was providing assis -

tance to 30 on-going projects, representing a

capital value of some 22 million US Dollars.

Mozambique

Unesco architects participated in a mis-

sion to assist the Government in preparing

the Education input for the Emergency

Programme which was submitted to the

April 1988 U.N. Donors' Conference. Theproject proposals prepared included the

creation of "Primary and Basic Education

Centres for displaced populations" to

cater for the educational and social needs

of both adults and children displaced by

the war, living in temporary or permanent

accommodation centres. The project

includes a primary school component

(classrooms) and an adult basic education

centre (workshops for agriculture,

construction health and nutrition plus a

community room). The main objective ofthese facilities is to provide direct access

to education for war-stricken adults and

children and, through education, to enable

these communities to become self-reliant

and to improve their living conditions.

One pilot centre is shortly to be imple-

mented in the Cheringoma accommoda-

tion centre.

Somalia

"A feasibility study for low-cost educa-

tional buildings in the six least developed

Arab countries" financed by the Arab

Fund for Education and Social Develop-

ment (AFESD) and the Arab Gulf Fund

(AFGUND).

This project aims to develop low-cost

educational buildings and furniture

through training of national specialists,

construction and evaluation of prototypes

and exchange of experience and informa-

tion. These prototypes are intended to

serve as a model for large-scale construc-

tion programmes financed by capital

investment donors/agencies.Training of local labour during the construction of the prototypes


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PROGRAMME ACTIONS

Nepal

A project preparation mission was under-

aken to Nepal in May 1988 to prepare, in

lose collaboration with the Nepalese

Government, the third phase of a project

ntitled "Expanding the Access of Girls

nd Women to Education" financed by

he Norwegian Government and

AGFUND. The objective of this project is

o provide access for girls and women to

ducation through the creation of boar-

ding facilities (hostels) for girls in ruralreas, who will become primary school

eachers, thus attracting more girls to

chools in rural areas. The third phase

ncludes the construction and equipping

f six new feeder hostels and a substantial

maintenance component (training,

manuals and equipment) for the hostels

uilt under the project.

El Salvador

ollowing the earthquake that devastated the country in October 1986 a mission was

arried out to San Salvador in June 198 by a consultant architect to assist the authorities

n the development of a plan for the relocation of schools damaged by the earthquake.


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PROGRAMME ACTIONS

III. TRAINING OF NATIONAL SPECIALISTS

This is done through the organisation of national, subregional and regional training workshops,

including training at experimental building sites. Training is also provided on an individual basis

in the regional offices and through study tours. Unesco also produces training materials in the

form of manuals and audiovisual aids for self-instruction or group teaching.

Maintenance of educational facilities in Togo

Progressively, greater imbalances occur

between the needs for educational facili-

ties and the means to satisfy them. Too

often, the exception has become rule, and

the rule exception. The lack of adequate

facilities has important repercussions on

the internal efficiency of education sys-tems and all possibilities have to be consi-

dered to improve the balance (reduce

needs and improve means).

One first step in this direction consists of

the consolidation of investments already

made, that is to say: "improve maintenan-

ce standards".

This was the subject of a seminar organi-

zed in June 1988 by BREDA and the

school construction service of the govern-

ment of Togo.

In short, the 6 recommendations of the

Lom seminar were:

transfer the built property to the owner-

ship of its users;

reduce school sizes to the economical

minimum and improve acquisition and

control of school sites;

provide sanitation facilities and drin-

king water;

programme and execute maintenance

by order of priority;

provide school maintenance manuals

and guides.

The seminar also concluded: "why not

firmly introduce the notions and activitiesof construction maintenance and site

development (with technology, physical

and natural science and practical work ...)

in the teaching programmes at schools

and in this way transform at least part of

the maintenance constraint into a re-

source".


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PROGRAMME ACTIONS

Typhoon resistant school buildings for Viet Nam

Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Sri Lanka,

Philippines, Viet Nam, India, Bangladesh and

China are Member States of Unesco in the

egion which have the unfortunate common

rait of being struck periodically by typhoons.

P R O A P has held two regional training

courses and one national course (Fiji, March

1985; Philippines, April 1986 and Viet Nam,

June 1987) to provide practical advice toarchitects and engineers on how to design

and calculate educational buildings that can

urvive strong winds and remain intact. If

hese guidelines are followed, every building

hould survive a typhoon.

Training Materials

The following 4 volumes, published in

English, French and Spanish, are part of

a cluster of training materials of 17volumes on educational planning,

administration and facilities designed to

be used in training seminars and for

self-instruction:

Norms and standards of Educational

Facilities.

Management and maintenance in the

use of educational buildings and

equipment. Designing secondary schools for

comfort.

Accommodation and space for

secondary general schools.


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PROGRAMME ACTIONS

IV. PILOT PROJECTS

These provide technical support to Member

States for the development and construction of

prototype multifunctional educational facili-

ties meeting the requirements of both formal

and non-formal education, using local mate -

rials and unproved construction techniques,

including resistance to natural disasters.

These pilot projects are designed with a view

to being replicated within the same country or

adapted to others with similar conditions, and

to serve as a basis for large-scale externally

financed national construction programmes.

Realization of an Experimental Training Centre in Bakel, Senegal

In 1980, after years of drought, a project

entitled "Living in the Sahel" was created;

in the framework of this project an experi-

mental practical training centre (CEFP)

was developed The purpose is to offer a

non-formal self-financed training facility

for comprehensive rural development. The

strategy chosen for its realisation is cha-

racterised by the development of local

material and human resources.

The domes have been constructed

through the placing of small sized sand-

cement bricks in successive layers of

concentric circles starting on a reinforced

ringbeam. The ground plan can be circu-

lar, hexagonal, rectangular or square.

Costa Rica - A Rural One-Teacher School

To cater for the needs of small rural com-

munities in Costa Rica a prototype has

been developed which can accommodate

multigrade teaching in one space at pri-

mary level as well as serve the commu-

nity for social, educational and cultural

activities. The basic unit consists of one

classroom, linked to outside paved

spaces, and using modular furniture

which allows for greater flexibility in use

This basic unit can be multiplied accor-

ding to the needs of the community. One

such prototype has been built on an ex-

perimental basis using a semi-prefabri-

cated (pre-cut) timber construction sys-

tem which is easily transportable (truck,

horse-back, etc.) and can easily be erec-

ted by the community, requiring no

sophisticated equipment.

The "skyline" of the CEFPPat Bakel (Senegal)

Buildings with vault construction

Buildings with conical domes


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PROGRAMME ACTIONS

rgentina - A Rural Schoolor Arid Zones

ural, arid areas have their particular problems, one of which is often the complete lack

infrastructures. To help relieve this situation, Unesco has developed a prototype

hool in Argentina for these areas that uses locally available materials, and an impro-

ed local construction system which can thus be implemented by the communities them-

lves. The building is also designed to be able to cater for pre-school, primary school

nd community activities. The construction system used is composed of adobe brick

alls; timber, mud and cement roof and the whole structure is reinforced with timberoles to protect the building against earthquake damage.

Bulgaria - Prototype PrimarySchool for Small Towns

This prototype was developed with the

aim of designing a school which would

cater for formal and non-formal education

as well as community and cultural func-

tions in small towns in Bulgaria.

Emphasis has been placed on the flexibi-

lity of the required spaces and their clus-ters as well as their links to the communi-

ty through shared use of spaces. As this

school is located in a seismic area, the

prototypes has been designed to withstand

extensive damage due to earthquakes and

the proposed construction system is there-

fore applicable to areas with similar geo-

logical conditions throughout the Balkan

Region.


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PROGRAMME ACTIONS

Primary schools in Burma

The Primary School Improvement Programme (PSIP) aims to

improve the learning environment of up to a quarter million

pupil places in Burma during the period 1987 to 1991. The new

school buildings are a co-operative effort. Communities provi-

de labour and funding for construction of building frames,

making use of local materials. UNICEF is assisting by provi-

ding hard-to-get materials required for clean water supplies,

sanitation and water tight roofs. The central government

ensures teacher salaries and learning equipment and supplies.PROAP trained 14 Burmese technicians on how to design the

schools and how to work with the communities to encourage

their participation.

Rural Teachers' Housing in Ethiopia

Accommodation for teachers in rural ar-

eas is a great problem in most developing

countries, contributing to the shortage and

retention of well-qualified teachers in

these areas. To help overcome this pro-

blem in Ethiopia, Unesco has, during

1988, in cooperation with the Government,

developed prototype housing units cate-

ring for the needs of teachers of different

marital status: single, married, married

with children. In order to reduce costs,

improved locally available materials have

been used, the main components being

plastered adobe block walls, eucalyptus

joists and stabilized rammed earth floors.

Local technicians were given theoretical

and practical training in the techniques

developed through the construction of

one prototype and it is envisaged that the

communities will be participating in the

further implementation of the teachers'

housing programme, through the guid-

ance of the trained technicians. Presently

the Government is also considering con-

structing whole schools using the system

developed for this prototype.


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VENTS

h International Seminar of the UIA

orking Group "Educational and

ultural Spaces" with the support of Unesco. Lisbon,

rtugal, 12-18 March

90.

eme: Evaluation of an educational or

ltural building in rural or peri-urbaneas.

RECENTS PUBLICATIONS

Almeida, R.

Handbook for Educational Buildings Planning. Paris, Unesco, 1988. 92p.

(Educational buildings and equipment 9) ED-88/WS/61.

Arya, A.S.

Protection of educational buildings against earthquakes. Amanual for designers and

builders. Bangkok, Unesco, 1987. 67p. (Educational Buildings Report 13)

Vickery, D.S.

AFacilities Design Guide. Paris, Unesco, 1988. 96 p.

(Educational buildings and equipment 10) ED-88/WS/60.

We welcome relevant information from readers about recent and

forthcoming publications as well as news and events wich will go

into this news and events section.


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unesco's educational buildings

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